“At my age and with this limitation I have to save my strength a little to be able to serve the Church” or “on the contrary, think about the possibility of stepping aside,” he said during a press conference more than 45 minutes after the hard day in which he traveled from Quebec to Iqualuit to meet with the Inuit population.
The pope has denied on several occasions, especially after the insistent rumors about a possible resignation, that he has thought about the possibility of leaving office, but today he made it clear that it is one of the options for the future following the example of Pope Benedict XVI , who resigned from the pontificate in February 2013, assuring that he lacked the strength.
“The door is open and it is one of the options, but so far I have not knocked on this door. I haven’t felt this possibility yet, but this doesn’t mean that I won’t start thinking about it tomorrow.” he reiterated. And he stressed that “it would not be something strange” or “a catastrophe”.
“You can change potatoes, there is no problem,” he added.
Francis also explained that any kind of decision will be “the will of the Lord.” “If the Lord tells you that you have to go to the corner, you go to the corner,” he pointed out and added “that he has not yet felt that call.”
Regarding his knee pain, he explained that although the doctors say that he could operate, he will not do it because he has a problem with the anesthesia, since it affected him during the operation on the colon in July of last year and he still has “some effects”. “One does not play with anesthesia and that is why it is thought that it is not convenient (the operation),” he said.
He assured that he will continue trying to travel “because it is a way of being close to people and it is a way of serving” and that trips to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are still pending, “but already next year.”
Regarding the possible trip to Ukraine, he reiterated that “he wants to go” but added: “we will see what I find when I get home”, referring to how the organization of the possible visit to kyiv proceeds, while he did confirm that he may be in Kazakhstan “because it is a smooth trip” for the congress on religions to be held on September 14 and 15.
Source: Ambito
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